Jason Toon

Does your palate have mad skills? Are your tastebuds like little
ninjas, trained in the ancient art of tasting by flavor monks in a
hidden mountain redoubt? Could you tell your Cab Franc from your Cab
Sauv, even if you were at a gas station or a pig farm?

Then
you may be ready for the challenge…the Wine.Woot Mystery Wine
Challenge. It could be the world’s largest tasting event, as far
as we know. This is your chance to shut up those know-it-alls on
the message boards who think they know more about wine than you do.
Here’s how to join hundreds of your fellow wooters in putting your
palate to the test:

Buy the current winery direct deal, a
Peter Wellington Three-Pack. Each order will include a 4th bottle of mystery wine from Wellington
Vineyards. If you order two or three three-packs, you’ll get two or
three different mystery bottles.

The mystery bottle will be labeled “The Duke”, because
legally it has to have some kind of label on it. But this special version of "The Duke" will contain a specific mystery varietal. Which one? That's for us to know and you to find out.

Look for the tiny little round dot on the mystery bottle.
it’ll be in the upper left-hand corner of the back label. Make a note
of what color it is.

Open the mystery wine. Taste the mystery wine. Consult
that little Robert Parker in your head. Decide what varietal of
Wellington wine you just drank.

If it’s before August 29th, wait until August 29th before proceeding to the next step.

On August 29th, we’ll make the entry form for this contest
available. It's a Friday, so you've got an excuse to invite your friends over for a tasting party. At that time, you’ll need to enter your Woot username, the
color of the little dot on the mystery bottle, and your guess as to
what varietal it is. (We’ll announce the opening of the entry form in a
blog post here on Wine.Woot, so keep your eyes on the blog on the 29th.)

Wait for us to announce the winners.

If you’re one of them, collect your “prize”: well-earned
prestige and respect among your fellow members of the Wine.Woot
community. It’s the greatest prize of all, except for cash. And the
Feds won’t let us give people cash for a drinking contest. Spoilsports.

So
are you scared yet? Do you have what it takes to claim wine-tasting
supremacy? Sharpen your Jedi tongue skills and place your order now.
Immortality awaits you…along with some damn good wine.

Entries will
be accepted beginning August 29, 2008. To submit an entry, go to the
web form to be announced later and enter your Woot username, the color
of the sticker on the back label of your mystery bottle, and your
varietal guess into the appropriate fields. Those identifying the correct varietal will be lavishly recognized on this web site as only Wine.Woot can. Only contestants who buy the Peter Wellington Three-Pack will
be eligible to be announced as winners. No prizes will be awarded.

sanity

Cesare

I wonder if those of us who went on the rpm tour have a slight advantage. We tasted almost all his wines so we generally know what his varietals taste like. Of course the mystery wine(s) might be a new vintage or even a new varietal we didn't taste but still. Time to dig up those tasting notes!

-il CesareSole Absolute Triple
Exalted High Tastemaster Supreme
“In the entire world there are only a few sounds that bring joy to all but the most jaded. One is the murmur of a kitten purring. Another is the thwack of a well-pitched baseball hitting a perfectly swung bat. And the third is the pop of a cork being pulled from a bottle of wine.” —George Taber

Walstib

Opening date for entries is August 29. Has there been a closing date set? If not, will there be? It has taken an awful long time for me to get my wines lately, with them heading to NY before being trucked back to IL.

javadrinker

Cesare wrote:I wonder if those of us who went on the rpm tour have a slight advantage. We tasted almost all his wines so we generally know what his varietals taste like. Of course the mystery wine(s) might be a new vintage or even a new varietal we didn't taste but still. Time to dig up those tasting notes!

No one has a bigger advantage than Tim...all he has to do is open each bottle of Wellington wines in his 4+ cases until he finds the one that tastes like his mystery bottle...this could get messy.

nematic

javadrinker wrote:No one has a bigger advantage than Tim...all he has to do is open each bottle of Wellington wines in his 4+ cases until he finds the one that tastes like his mystery bottle...this could get messy.

heh, I got a great mental image of tim sitting on the floor of his basement, surrounded by open, nearly full wellington bottles, semi-deranged look in his eye . . . "nope, not this one {corkscrew action sounds} nope, not this one . . . "

SonomaBouliste

Employees of Wellington Vineyards and w00t.com are not eligible to enter this contest. Void in Utah, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and anywhere else that makes it easier for you to order weapons than wine. (...disclaimer...I'm sure all you legal eagles out there can fill in the rest)

polarbear22

SonomaBouliste wrote:Employees of Wellington Vineyards and w00t.com are not eligible to enter this contest. Void in Utah, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and anywhere else that makes it easier for you to order weapons than wine. (...disclaimer...I'm sure all you legal eagles out there can fill in the rest)

You and WD are having too much fun with this contest.

Weetabix? TALLY-HO! - you deserve it. And we get to join the fun in a mere week or two when the wines start to arrive. JIT for Labor Day weekend it looks like.

SonomaBouliste

andyduncan wrote:So, we just have to get the varietal correct, no? Or, like with your multiple cabs, do we have to pick out the bottle exactly?

Just the varietal, unless you need to challenge yourself as to vintage, appellation, soil type, yeast strain, type of oak, ar any other details. Extra points will be awarded, but they aren't worth anything.

JOATMON

SonomaBouliste wrote:Just the varietal, unless you need to challenge yourself as to vintage, appellation, soil type, yeast strain, type of oak, ar any other details. Extra points will be awarded, but they aren't worth anything.

Wellington Wines web site currently list the following varietals as being available: Alicante Bouche, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Syrah, and Zinfandel.

For people on the tour, or others: did Peter have any other red varietals at the tasting room that are not on the above list? What was available in his library wine section?

kriegster

Had a nice preview of the Zinfindel show up at my door. What a perfect accompaniment to rotissery Jerk Chicken I was having that night. I decided to also make a Arugala salad with Bulgarian feta with a rasberry vinagrette since a nice strong red balances the flavors in the salad. Upon first drink the nose was a nice and full. It beconed for a taste. I was not dissapointed. Zins are my favorite. This one had the edges taken off with the other smaller percent varietals that made the wine completely drinkable. It definately was young and could use some aging or decanting to open up the flavors, but it was delicious.

MaskedMarvel

Had a nice preview of the Zinfindel show up at my door. What a perfect accompaniment to rotissery Jerk Chicken I was having that night. I decided to also make a Arugala salad with Bulgarian feta with a rasberry vinagrette since a nice strong red balances the flavors in the salad. Upon first drink the nose was a nice and full. It beconed for a taste. I was not dissapointed. Zins are my favorite. This one had the edges taken off with the other smaller percent varietals that made the wine completely drinkable. It definately was young and could use some aging or decanting to open up the flavors, but it was delicious.

Thanx for the freebee and can't wait for the real shipment.

Yours truely stuck in the bottle of wine,
Charlie Bucket

...sigh... A wasted LabRat opportunity. Seems, sometimes, like we should have some sort of new sign-up with clearer obligations...

cheron98

Thanks... you've been packed, and we'll let it slide this time since the offering sold on kind of early yesterday, but in the future, if you're chosen again, please post your rattery on the main thread for the offering, and please do so ASAP - like, the night you drink it, which should be the day you receive it. Don't forget we're on a two-offering schedule, and your post must be up by the time the offering is over.

oppsie

cheron98 wrote:Thanks... you've been packed, and we'll let it slide this time since the offering sold on kind of early yesterday, but in the future, if you're chosen again, please post your rattery on the main thread for the offering, and please do so ASAP - like, the night you drink it, which should be the day you receive it. Don't forget we're on a two-offering schedule, and your post must be up by the time the offering is over.

Maybe kriegsters didn't get it until Wednesday and is on the west coast (contradictory, I know, unless it was a mail room or mailboxesetc situation). Maybe s/he's internet was down. You're being a little harsh without knowing the full story imho.

kriegsters, thanks for reporting even though it was late. Tasting notes are welcome no matter when they come.

speedoo

Had a nice preview of the Zinfindel show up at my door. What a perfect accompaniment to rotissery Jerk Chicken I was having that night. I decided to also make a Arugala salad with Bulgarian feta with a rasberry vinagrette since a nice strong red balances the flavors in the salad. Upon first drink the nose was a nice and full. It beconed for a taste. I was not dissapointed. Zins are my favorite. This one had the edges taken off with the other smaller percent varietals that made the wine completely drinkable. It definately was young and could use some aging or decanting to open up the flavors, but it was delicious.

Thanx for the freebee and can't wait for the real shipment.

Yours truely stuck in the bottle of wine,
Charlie Bucket

It's not a "free" bottle. It carries an obligation to taste it and report to the community immediately. Were you not aware of this obligation?

jkwest

Had a nice preview of the Zinfindel show up at my door. What a perfect accompaniment to rotissery Jerk Chicken I was having that night. I decided to also make a Arugala salad with Bulgarian feta with a rasberry vinagrette since a nice strong red balances the flavors in the salad. Upon first drink the nose was a nice and full. It beconed for a taste. I was not dissapointed. Zins are my favorite. This one had the edges taken off with the other smaller percent varietals that made the wine completely drinkable. It definately was young and could use some aging or decanting to open up the flavors, but it was delicious.

andyduncan

Sure: Lighten up. As a two-time labrat I think you guys take this labrat stuff way too seriously (and if you want to question my commitment to my duties, check the Zahtila thread). People who don't read these boards religiously and who don't know all the ins-and-outs and expectations and secret jokes and unspecified requirements, who might not even be paying attention to the fact that the wine.woot only goes through Wednesday night now, don't deserve to be lambasted when they belatedly fulfill their duties.

All this animosity and harsh criticism makes for one hell of a welcome to someone who's trying to contribute to this forum.

It's just wine, chill. Better yet, It's just amateur opinions of wine. Does it really matter if Doug From Accounts Receivable at Wilson Heating and Cooling in Indiana says it's a good wine? If you're making your purchase decision based on that, I think you're going to be disappointed in the long run.

I know if you're making your purchase based on my palate, you're likely to be disappointed.

The labrat stuff is icing on the wine.woot cake. It's a fun game that makes the week interesting, but it's not a reliable or accurate way to determine whether you're in for one or not.

And sheesh, both the monday wines of the last two weeks that we've had have sold out anyway. It's not like the late reviews are negatively affecting sales.

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